Shy Girl on Berk
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: Thinking she's allergic to her dragon, Astrid gets hypnotized. She wakes up transformed into a scared, terrified girl who won't even touch an axe. (A what-if for episode five in "Race to the Edge", "Big Man on Berk")
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! :D So, hiatus is breaking, technically tomorrow, but I got this chapter typed out earlier and I just thought, "Eh, what the heck." XD So, this is just a what-if for the Race to the Edge episode, "Big Man on Berk." The story really speaks for itself. ;)**

 **Oh, and this idea came from the amazing Omegaman17. Seriously a brilliant author. If you guys haven't looked at their work yet, I'd advise you check 'em out. Pretty awesome over there in awesome town. ;) Thanks for the idea, Omegaman! :D**

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"FIRE!"

Bolas shot up at the sky, tearing through the air, the chains thick and menacing. Dragon proof, too, so firing at them wouldn't make a difference, nor would it stop them from hitting their target.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup shouted across the sky; Berserkers littered the ocean below. "When I give the word, you and Snotlout go down! Give it everything you've got, but only after I give the signal! Not before!"

"Okay!" Fishlegs shouted back.

Snotlout pumped his fists into the air in silent triumph, although they hadn't won anything yet. "SNOTLOUT, SNOTLOUT! OY, OY, OY!" the boastful Jorgenson cheered wholeheartedly.

"Astrid, Ruff and Tuff!" Hiccup called. The twins and Astrid snapped to attention, their heads lifted in his direction. "You're with me!" Hiccup said. "We're gonna take the front as soon as I give the signal!"

"Got it!" Astrid shouted back.

"On it!" Tuffnut said. "Wait, what was the signal again? Did he actually have a signal planned?" he asked Ruffnut.

"I think he's winging it," Ruffnut whispered back to her brother.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Tuffnut shouted. "How much of this are you ad libbing!?"

"All of it!" Hiccup said. "Problem?"

Tuffnut frowned. "Uh...wait...what?"

Astrid shook her head. They hadn't been prepared to come across Dagur; of course Hiccup's plans were all improvisation at the time.

They'd been following a new map from the Dragon Eye when they ran into Dagur and his army of Berserkers. He was still building his armada, so his army wasn't big, yet it was large enough to slow Hiccup and the other riders down. Besides, the Berserkers had bolas, and crossbows. They had the advantage in weapons.

Astrid knew it was going to be insane the moment she saw the ships. "Hiccup!" she called over to him. He jerked his head in her direction. "We aren't ready to fight them!" Astrid yelled. "We don't even have our weapons!"

"We don't _need_ to fight them!" Hiccup said. "We're just going to protect ourselves and fend off their attacks long enough to bypass them! It shouldn't take long! Trust me!"

Astrid nodded uneasily. She didn't feel completely reassured, but she trusted Hiccup. Besides, she felt too tired to actually argue with him. Astrid tried to ignore the headache she had picked up from somewhere, but it seemed almost impossible. She'd been feeling awful ever since she put on Stormfly's new saddle that morning, but she didn't know what it was from. Maybe she'd picked up some sort of cold.

Either way, she wasn't at the top of her game. She was glad the others hadn't noticed yet. She knew how freaked out Hiccup got whenever something happened to her.

"Come on!" Hiccup shouted; the rest of the group filed in V formation behind him. "Wait for my signal!"

"WHAT IS THE SIGNAL!?" Tuffnut cried.

He was ignored. "NOW!" Hiccup shouted. "Snotlout, Fishlegs, go! Astrid, Ruff, Tuff, follow me!"

"Oh!" Tuffnut said. "He meant THAT signal! We're on it!"

Fishlegs and Snotlout spun and headed behind Dagur's ships while Hiccup led the twins and Astrid forward, taking the ships head-on. Astrid could hardly thing anymore. Her headache was still coming.

She turned her head and coughed into the crook of her elbow, hoping no one noticed. Her throat still itched and burned, and she sniffed. Had she always felt this congested?

"Catapults!" Hiccup shouted. Astrid saw, in the corner of her eye, giant rocks flying through the air, towards her and the other riders. Astrid turned Stormfly, and her dragon swerved out of the way, just barely missing them.

Unfortunately, the spinning did nothing to help the way Astrid was feeling, and she couldn't _stop_ Stormfly's spinning. The dragon continued spinning out of control, until she crashed straight into Ruffnut and Tuffnut's Zippleback.

"Hey!" Ruffnut protested. "Watch it - AH!" More boulders were shot up towards them, and Stormfly leveled out at length while Barf and Belch ducked and dove to avoid getting smashed by the rocks.

Hiccup looked back and yanked on Toothless' saddle horn. "Astrid!" he shouted. "What happened? Are you guys okay?"

"Yep!" Astrid sniffed. Thor, her voice sounded _terrible_. She hoped Hiccup didn't notice, but unfortunately, he must have, because he instantly looked back towards Snotlout and Fishlegs and shouted.

"Abort!" Hiccup shouted. "Abort the mission! Get back to Dragon's Edge!"

"What!?" Snotlout yelled. He pulled up on Hookfang, narrowly avoiding more bolas and earning angry shouts from Berserkers. "Why!? We can take 'em! I want to see where that map leads to!"

"Not today!" Hiccup called. "Everyone, back to Dragon's Edge!"

Astrid wanted to protest, but she knew that staying in the air and trying to defend herself and Stormfly wasn't a good idea when she had a headache like this. She would only put herself and the other riders and the dragons in danger of being captured by Dagur or wounded by one of the Berserkers.

Except, she really didn't like how worried Hiccup sounded, and she knew that as soon as they got back to Dragon's Edge, she would be getting a lecture on "why didn't you tell us you were sick?" and "you could have been killed!" and "you are not getting up until you're recovered, you hear me!?"

Maybe he was right.

They doubled back around and shot out of sight, away from Dagur's men and his ships, moving as quickly as possible as to leave no trace. They didn't want Dagur finding out where their base was, of course. That would have been a nightmare.

The flight back to Dragon's Edge was anything but easy, especially with how Astrid kept coughing and sneezing and protesting when her friends asked if she was alright and needed to land. She didn't want them worrying about her, really, but at the same time, she really couldn't protest very much.

They would never listen, anyways. Especially Hiccup.

When they landed on Dragon's Edge, Astrid coughed harshly into her fist and sighed.

"You and your spinning nearly got us KILLED!" Tuffnut yelled angrily.

"Calm down, Tuffnut," Snotlout said. "You lived!" He twirled his finger in the air. "Yay, us," he said sarcastically.

"No thanks to her!" Ruffnut snapped, jabbing a finger at Astrid. "What was that all about? And why did we abort?"

"Yeah, why?" Tuffnut questioned. "We didn't even get to blast anything!"

"We had to pull back," Hiccup said. "Astrid's sick."

"I'm not sick," Astrid protested, although she was lying, and she knew it. "I...I don't ever get sick." The others simply stared at her. "What!?" she snapped angrily. "I don't see what the problem is! Everyone coughs and sneezes sometimes!"

"Yeah," Tuffnut piped up. "But not like a honey covered yak on an anthill."

Hiccup's face was priceless, and Astrid would have laughed if laughing didn't make her coughing worse. Right now, she was trying to focus on not coughing in front of the others and freaking them out again.

"What?" Tuffnut said, his shoulders slumping. "You mean you've never seen a honey covered yak on an anthill? Because they sneeze...and scratch...it's terrifying. The horrors still haunt my dreams."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "I really don't feel sick, alright?" she said, although her mere voice gave it away. She felt congested, and her voice showed it for certain. "I promise, I'm fine-"

"No, apparently, you're not," Hiccup jumped in, stepping right over her words whether he meant to or not. "If you really don't think you're sick, I don't know, maybe you're just allergic to something."

Astrid didn't want to agree with him, but it was sick, or allergic, and honestly, she would go with having allergies over being sick. She didn't like being sick, because it made her powerless, but if she had an allergy, it was something that could be fixed.

"Alright, fine," she said. "But not sick. I don't get sick. I'm clean, serene-"

"And a coughing machine!" Ruffnut said, snapping her fingers, a smile plastered on her face.

Astrid probably would have attacked her if she hadn't felt as she had. "Ruffnut," she threatened, "if you do that again, I'm getting my axe."

"Might I interject?" Tuffnut asked, stepping in between Ruffnut and Astrid. "We at the Thorston house have a very simple allergen detection system. It has _never_ failed!"

Ruffnut peeked out from behind him. "That's a system?" she asked.

"It is now," Tuffnut said back.

"Okay, fine, then," Hiccup said, taking a step forward. "What _is_ this 'system'-" He made quotation marks with his fingers, "of yours?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, fellow Dragonites! :D I managed to get another chapter written, so here it is! It gets really interesting in chapter 4...that's when it really kicks off, just so you all know. I imagine this little fic breaking ten chapters, for sure. I have a few ideas for a few what-ifs for other RTTE episodes, so hopefully, I can have those written out and posted sometime later this month...**

 **But anyways, enough about that. :) Enjoy chapter 2!**

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Astrid stood in front of Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and the other riders stood behind her. Tuffnut held his hands forward, holding something that looked remarkably disgusting and smelled no better.

"Agh!" Astrid groaned, clamping her hand over her nose. "What in the name of Thor is that thing?"

"Thousand-year-old egg!" Tuffnut announced. He sounded oddly proud of himself, although Astrid really didn't know what was so great about offering her a thousand-year-old egg.

"Oh, gods!" Hiccup gasped. "Where...where did you even _get_ that-"

"We have our ways!" Tuffnut said, retracting the egg, almost protectively. "Do not question the ways, young Hiccup! Never question the ways of the truly disturbed!"

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose. "Nevermind, I don't even want to know," he shook his head.

Astrid felt the same way, although she commented not. Tuffnut thrust the egg towards her again, and she stepped backwards. "No way," she said. "There's no way I am touching that thing."

Tuffnut looked hurt. "You won't touch it," he said. "Just shove it down your throat, and you're good-"

"WHAT!?" Astrid shouted; she always knew these two were idiots, but this was simply insane. Like, beyond their usual insane, if that was even possible. "No way! Just no way! I'll take my chances with allergies!"

She expected a fight from the other riders, but they simply nodded in agreement, and Tuffnut sighed. "Oh well," he said. He threw the egg backwards over his shoulder, and there was a clang and a clatter, followed by Tuffnut's chicken squealing in protest. "Dr. Nut, please bring out our next test."

Ruffnut nodded and stepped forward, a fistful of black fur in her hand. She waved it in front of Astrid's face, right under the girl's nose. "Yak hair!" Ruffnut said. "It takes sneezing to a whole new level."

Astrid batted her hands away. Honestly, she didn't understand what all this was about, and she hoped Hiccup told the twins to knock it off before they got even further carried away.

"Cut it out already," Astrid snapped. "Whatever you're trying to do, it isn't working."

"But," Fishlegs lifted a finger, "I've heard yak hair is one of the most common allergens known to Berk. Do you guys remember my Aunt Gerta? She used to break out in-"

"No, please!" Hiccup put his hands forward, shut his eyes, and waved his hands back and forth pleadingly. He looked up timidly after another moment. "I'd like to be able to sleep tonight," he said.

"Well, scratch _that_ attempt," Ruffnut threw the yak hair back, and Chicken screeched in protest again. "The best part is coming next."

"The end?" Snotlout asked hopefully.

" _No,"_ Tuffnut said angrily, stomping his foot. He held his hand out to Ruffnut, and Ruffnut handed him a wooden mug of something that smelled even worse than the thousand-year-old egg. "Spoiled, coagulated goat milk," Tuffnut explained, "with just a pinch of hoof jam. I find it changes the whole experience."

Astrid's eyes widened, and she took a step backwards. She was about to open her mouth to protest, when Hiccup beat her to it.

"No, no, she isn't drinking that," Hiccup said, rushing to stand between Astrid and Tuffnut. "Maybe we can just take this whole…'test' to Berk, get Astrid some real help to find out what's really wrong with her."

"Thanks for the save, Hiccup," Astrid whispered.

Hiccup shrugged, which Astrid guessed meant "you're welcome".

Tuffnut groaned. " _Again!?"_ he said miserably. " _Fffiiinnne."_ He tossed the mug of eww-what-the-heck backwards, and there was a _splat,_ followed by an angry screech. Tuffnut's chicken was _NOT_ having the best day.

"So, we're done here," Hiccup clapped his hands together. "Mount up, and we'll head back to Berk. At this rate, if we fly straight through the night, we should reach Berk by daybreak."

The others nodded. Astrid was thankful for Hiccup's levelheadedness. She didn't know where she and the other riders would be without it. She strode towards Stormfly, put her hands against her dragon's side, and got ready to mount.

But then, she sneezed again, more violently than she had before. Stormfly nudged her worriedly, and she coughed.

"I don't-" Astrid coughed, "get it! I never...I've never...been allergic to anything...before-" She coughed again.

Hiccup looked at her, and then looked at Stormfly. "Um...Astrid…" he began, taking a step towards her. "I want you to try something."

"Great!" Tuffnut clapped his hands together. "I'll get the extra goat milk!"

"What!? No!" Hiccup protested. Tuffnut stopped in mid-step, his face covered in disappointment. "Here, Astrid." Hiccup gripped Astrid's forearm, and she would have pulled away if she could've. "Step over here."

He pulled her across the room, guiding her on. She let him drag her, stumbling along with him.

"Hiccup, I don't know what you're-" she began to say, and stopped suddenly when she realized that she no longer felt as stuffy as she had just a few moments before. She took a deep breath through her nose to test it; yes, her sinuses were clear. Her throat didn't itch.

"Hiccup, I-" she began again.

"I know," Hiccup nodded. He finally stopped walking, standing on the other side of the twins' hut, opposite of Stormfly. "Astrid...I think you might be allergic to...Stormfly."

Astrid's head shot up to meet his eyes. She blinked, just to see if he was joking. "You're kidding me, right?" she said. Hiccup met her eyes and shook his head. She could tell in a heartbeat that he was serious.

"Why, all of a sudden, would she be allergic to Stormfly?" Snotlout asked.

"Yeah," Fishlegs agreed. "It's not like Stormfly is new here. Astrid's been riding Stormfly for years without any problems at all. Why would she suddenly have an allergic reaction to her dragon?"

"Perhaps it's just a simple case of adult-onset allergies," Tuffnut said in his "let's-be-logical" tone.

"An, I concur with your diagnosis, Dr. Nut," Ruffnut said, her hands pressed together, her voice taking up the same tone her brother had used.

"I concur with your concuration," Tuffnut said in response.

"Adult-onset allergies develop in your elder years," Ruffnut explained as if she were speaking to a five year old, "when your immune system mistakenly identifies a dangerous substance."

The other riders stared at Ruffnut and Tuffnut in confusion. Astrid kept wondering, _What?_

Ruffnut and Tuffnut still looked thrilled with their new discovery, and they bashed their heads together in triumph.

"Don't be stupid, guys," Astrid snapped. She jerked away from Hiccup and stomped back towards Stormfly's side stubbornly. "There's no way I'm…" She was going to try and prove her point by touching Stormfly's side, but before she even got the chance to, she started sneezing and coughing uncontrollably once again. "-A-allergic-" Astrid coughed again. "T-to...St-Stormfly-"

Hiccup ran towards her and grabbed her again. "Stop it, Astrid," he said. He spun her around and pushed her away from her dragon again. Just as before, Astrid's head cleared, and her coughing and sneezing fits stopped instantly. "I think you are allergic to her."

"Diagnosis confirmed!" Ruffnut cheered.

"Alright, you two, knock it off," Hiccup said, and Astrid wanted to clap. She knew he would say it sooner or later, and it was better sooner than later in her own opinion. "Astrid," Hiccup began, "there's only one person I know who might be able to help you."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, guys! :) So, this is chapter 3, and this is where the story really gets interesting. Well, I guess that's really chapter 4. This is just Gothi's hut scene...well, okay, no spoilers. ;) I hope you like it! :D**

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"I hate leaving Stormfly here, Hiccup," Astrid said, crossing her arms. She, Hiccup, Toothless and Stormfly stood on the platform outside the Clubhouse, Astrid, Hiccup and Toothless to the far left while Stormfly was sleeping away on the far right, as far away from Astrid as possible. "Who knows. Dagur could attack while we're gone, and if he takes Stormfly-"

"Astrid, Stormfly will be fine, I promise," Hiccup assured, laying his hand on her shoulder. She thought about pushing him away, but decided against it. "Right now, we really need to focus on getting you back to Berk. Gothi should be able to help you. If she can't, no one can."

"It makes _no sense,"_ Astrid snapped back; Hiccup took a step away from her, retracting her hand, and she felt bad. She sighed; it wasn't Hiccup's fault. She had to remind herself that. "I really don't understand," she said, her voice calming down dramatically. "I can't be allergic to Stormfly."

"Well, unfortunately, Astrid, you are," Hiccup said. _Well, way to be obvious about it, Hiccup,_ Astrid thought bitterly, although she said nothing out loud. She knew Hiccup was only concerned about her safety. With the spin she'd taken earlier while they were trying to fight off Dagur, it wasn't hard to see why he would be concerned.

He just didn't want to admit it.

"Look, Astrid," Hiccup said, "you'll ride with me and Toothless to Berk, and we'll be back here with Stormfly as soon as Gothi can think of something, alright?"

"And what if she can't?" Astrid asked. "What if there's nothing Gothi can do?"

Hiccup looked at the ground as if he'd considered that possibility before yet decided not to bring it up. "She'll figure something out," he said. "And if she can't, I will. I promise."

Astrid shook her head. "You promise too much, Hiccup," she said. "Can you keep all the promises you make?"

Hiccup lifted his finger and opened his mouth to answer, but Astrid cut him off.

"Forget it," she said. "Let's just go." She turned towards Toothless and sighed.

"Astrid-" Hiccup began again.

"Hiccup, _forget it,"_ Astrid turned back towards him as she spoke angrily. "Let's _go._ After you." She gestured to Toothless with a fake smile plastered on her face.

Hiccup sighed, but complied, mounting his dragon and gesturing for Astrid to get on behind him. She did so instantly, looking sadly at Stormfly the entire time.

"Hold on," Hiccup suggested, although it was more of a command. Astrid obeyed, her arms snaking around his waist. She was already having a bad day as it was; she didn't need to go flying out of the saddle to make it worse. "Toothless, full speed ahead."

Toothless nodded, spread his wings, and launched into the sky. Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs took to the air behind them, and the riders soared towards Berk, leaving Stormfly behind.

…

Explaining their problem to Gothi wasn't that hard to do; of course, they were in the company of Gobber the blacksmith all the while as they explained their dilemma to the village healer. For the longest time, Gothi did nothing. She simply stood, a pile of sand scattered in front of her, her staff raised over her head, her eyes closed gently.

Astrid was beginning to grow anxious. She really wanted this to be over with already. She wanted to be back on Stormfly with the other riders and their dragons again, kicking Berserker behind and taking names. Or, as Snotlout put it, "Kicking names, and taking butt."

Either way worked for Astrid.

Hiccup stood behind her, tapping his foot. "So, Gothi," he said after clearing his throat. "Do you think you can help her?"

Gothi opened her eyes, nodded in Hiccup's direction (which really could have meant anything), and began drawing runes in the dirt with her staff.

"Ohh," Snotlout said, coming up to stand behind Fishlegs. "I gotta see this."

Gothi continued writing, and Gobber leaned over the runes. "What's she saying?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

Astrid hated the others worrying about her, but she didn't say it out loud.

"Hhmm…" Gobber said. "Huh…"

"What?" Fishlegs blurted. "WHAT!?"

"Calm down, Fishface!" Snotlout snapped. "Don't be such a worry wart! Have faith in the old lady with the staff! She knows how to use it!"

Gothi raised her staff threateningly for a moment, and then went right back to writing in the sand.

"So, Gobber," Astrid said, "what _does_ she say?"

"She wants to paralyze you," Gobber said, lifting his head.

Hiccup gasped. Astrid knew he was more worried about this than anyone, and although she knew it, she pretended not to notice it.

Behind her, Snotlout pumped his fist into the air. "Yes!" he shouted triumphantly.

Gobber raised her staff and smacked Gobber upside the head with it, and Astrid knew in a heartbeat that Gobber had misread Gothi's runes. "Agh!" Gobber shouted, straightening his helmet. "Check that! Hypnotize! Sorry, she wants to hypnotize you."

"Uhh!" Snotlout groaned. "Come on!" He stomped his foot angrily and stormed to the other side of Gothi's platform.

"Wait, hypnotize?" Hiccup questioned. "Gothi, are you sure that's safe? Not that I'm questioning you, or anything, it's just…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "It sounds...unsettling."

"Hiccup." Astrid stepped forward and put her hand on Hiccup's forearm. "It's okay, okay? I'll be fine. Just let Gothi do her thing, and Stormfly and I will be back in the air in no time. Besides…" She released Hiccup's arm and took a step towards Gothi. "It's just hypnosis. Nothing to be worried about."

It sounded odd, to be hypnotized, but Astrid trusted the village's elder and healer. Gothi would never do anything to intentionally hurt anyone for no good reason.

Gothi aimed her staff forward, directly in front of Astrid's face. Astrid flinched, but didn't back away. She focused on the movements of the staff; she expected the entrancement to come instantly, so when it didn't, she grew confused.

"Uh, guys, I don't think it's working on me," she said. "Because I'm way…" She felt dizziness plague her mind, and she swayed. "Way...too…" Sparks danced before her vision, and before she knew what was happening, she felt her consciousness being stripped away. "Okay," she said breathlessly, and then, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed.

…

Hiccup was the first one to react; he surged forward and grabbed Astrid, managing to lower her too the ground before she hit her head on the floorboards and caused herself bodily harm. He thought about unstrapping her axe from her back, but decided against it. The hypnosis wasn't going to last long. The axe wouldn't bother Astrid.

Snotlout leaned over her. "Way too what?" he asked. "Oh wait, let me guess...unconscious! Hahaha! Quick! Someone hand me some paint! I want to draw her a beard!"

"We're not going to do that!" Hiccup snapped.

He was about to yell further at his cousin, when Gobber's voice cut through his angry thoughts. "Okay," the blacksmith said. "Now that she's under, Gothi wants us to tell her that she's not allergic to Stormfly."

"Does that really work?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

"I guess we'll find out." Hiccup knelt down in next to Astrid. What was he supposed to do _now?_ He moved his hands over her face. "Here goes," he said. "Astrid," he continued in a dramatized, sing-song voice, "you are not allergic to Stormfly. You are _not_ allergic to Stormfly."

Astrid tensed, but then, her features smoothed out, and she was peacefully unconscious once again.

Snotlout looked disappointed. "So, that's it?" he said.

Hiccup shrugged. "Hypnosis is very powerful," he said casually. "Okay, let's bring her out of it."

"Now, now, now," Snotlout put his hands forward. "Hang on a second there, Hiccup." He put his hand to his chin. "This could be an opportunity. I mean, clearly, there are a few things about Astrid that could change."

Hiccup glared hard at his cousin. He, for one, liked Astrid just the way she was. "Oh, really?" he said. "What do you want to change?"

"Her violence," Snotlout said, crossing his arms. "She's too violent. If you ask me-"

"We didn't ask you, Snotlout," Fishlegs stepped in. "We really should bring Astrid out of it now. Like Hiccup said, hypnosis _is_ very powerful. We should-"

"Oh, seriously, Guppylegs?" Snotlout snapped. "You guys are no fun at all, you know that? You're both so scared of _everything!_ Worried about _everything!_ Is there anything you're _not_ scared of!?"

"Snotlout, that's enough," Hiccup said. "Gothi, bring her out of it, now, please." He didn't think Gothi's hypnosis was dangerous, but he didn't want to take any chances. And plus, Snotlout was already talking about "changing Astrid", and Hiccup didn't want Astrid to change. She was perfect the way she was.

Gothi nodded. She put her hand in front of Astrid's face, paused, and snapped.

Instantly, Astrid's eyes flew open, and she sat up. "Ouch," she moaned, clutching her head. "What happened…" She looked at her surroundings. "Wait," she said. "Wh...why do you all have...weapons?"

Her eyes widened, and she shot to her feet. She staggered backwards, and looked over her shoulder. She gasped.

"Why do _I_ have a weapon!?" she cried. "AH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF ME!" She ran back and forth across Gothi's platform, trying to claw the axe off her back desperately. "GET IT OFF!" she screeched. "HELP ME, SOMEONE! AAAHHH!"

"Oh boy," Gobber moaned.

Oh boy was right. "Snotlout, you fool!" Hiccup shouted, grabbing Snotlout's shoulders and shaking him back and forth violently. "Look what you've done! You've created-!"

"An Astrid Hofferson the Not-Fearless," Snotlout gulped. "Whoops."

"WHOOPS!?" Hiccup blurted. "That's all you've got!? WHOOPS!?"

Except, that pretty much described their situation. Thanks to Snotlout, Astrid _had_ been changed.

And definitely not for the better.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, friends! Chapter 4 is rolling downhill and into place! Hopefully you guys like this chapter...I know I did. In honesty, it's kinda fun writing a freaked-out Astrid...yeah.**

 **A lot of you have assumptions on what will happen in this story, and I guess it's sort of obvious what's going to happen, but if you could please not say anything that might spoil the story, that would be amazing. :) I love how you clever readers know me and my schemes too well, I really do, and I think you are all truly amazing, but if you might dim down the assumptions just a bit, I would really appreciate it. :) Thank you all!**

 **I love you guys! I really do! Dragonites unite! Enjoy chapter 4! :D**

* * *

Astrid spun, trying to wrench the axe off her back, but to no avail. Hiccup raced towards her, trying to help in any way he thought was possible, but Astrid didn't seem very open to helpers at the moment, because she kept running and screaming and clawing madly at her back.

"GET IT OFF ME!" she yelled.

"Hold still!" Hiccup said, trying to grab her arms to hold her steady. "Just - just let me - OW!" He yanked his arm back and stared down at his hand. Red, spaced marks peppered his wrist. "Did you just bite me!?"

Astrid finally managed to yank her axe off her back, and as soon as she did, she hurled it in the opposite direction. Gobber ducked, and the axe sailed over his head. The weapon bounced back against a shield, and landed, blade first, right on top of Gothi's staff.

Gothi's staff snapped in two, and Astrid's axe embedded into the wooden floorboards as if they were made of butter. Astrid stood standing, panting, although the gasps sounded oddly higher than usual.

"Astrid," Hiccup said, trying to be calm, although in reality, he was freaking out. "Astrid, are you okay?"

Astrid looked at him, her eyes wide and full of terror. She nodded shakily. "I...I think so," she said. "Sorry. That was scary."

"Whoa," Ruffnut said, backing away slowly. "What just happened?"

"Yeah," Tuffnut agreed. "Did Astrid just _admit_ she was scared of something? I don't like it. Whatever she's selling, I'm not buying."

"Yeah," Ruffnut nodded. She lifted her head towards Astrid. "We don't want your cookies!" she shouted.

Astrid blinked in confusion. "I...I don't remember making cookies," she said, "but...I mean...I suppose I _can_ , if you guys really want me to…"

Tuffnut looked horrified. "Okay, freaky," he said. "I don't like it! Gothi, change her back. Change her back! Please!"

Gothi shook her head, gestured to her staff (which was lying on the ground, broken in half), and crossed her arms.

"She can't change Astrid back without her staff," Gobber said, translating the elder's angry and frustrated gestures.

"Oh, well that's good," Hiccup said, rubbing the back of his neck. "What...what am I supposed to do now?" He looked over at Astrid worriedly.

"Are you sure you guys don't want cookies?" she was asking Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who were slowly backing away, staring at Astrid as if she had three heads and giant teeth.

"Back away, _slooowlllyy,"_ Tuffnut said. "I've heard they can sense fear. If you move slowly, she won't see you moving. No sudden moves."

Hiccup put his head in his hands. This, was going to be a long day.

…

Astrid and Hiccup walked side by side through the village plaza. Astrid jumped every time she saw a weapon, and Hiccup had to grab her to keep her from running more than once. She wasn't afraid of the dragons, which Hiccup was relieved for, and Astrid still remembered everything that ever happened to her and the other riders. She remembered her friends, her family...everything.

Except, now, she was scared of everything, and a lot nicer than she'd ever been before. She nodded to villagers, said good morning to them, and even offered to help pull someone's cart once or twice.

Snotlout walked alongside Hiccup. "Can't Gothi just change her back?" he asked. "I mean, we tricked Astrid into thinking she was this. Couldn't we reverse it?"

Fishlegs stepped beside Astrid and shook his head. "No, not without her staff, remember?" he said. "Which, of course, was snapped in half during Astrid's freak show."

Astrid looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "I truly am. I didn't mean to get violent."

Villagers stopped to stare. One nudged another. "Is that Astrid?" he asked.

"I don't know," the villager mumbled back in a hushed tone just barely loud enough for Hiccup to hear.

Oh, Hiccup sure had a lot of explaining to do when the time came to it. He just hoped Gothi and Gobber fixed the staff before Astrid's fear of everything got out of hand.

"So, Astrid," Snotlout said. "You're afraid of everything, aren't you?" Before Astrid could answer, and before Hiccup could tell Snotlout that whatever he was planning on doing was a bad idea, Snotlout jumped in front of Astrid, his sword drawn. Astrid yelped and sprang backwards, hiding behind Hiccup helplessly like a five-year-old.

"Snotlout!" Hiccup shouted angrily. "Cut it out!" He held his hand out expectantly, and Snotlout handed the sword to his cousin reluctantly. Hiccup turned and tossed it at Fishlegs, who caught it and tossed it to the twins, who caught it and ran off, shouting, "POINTY OBJECT! WE WIN!" over and over again as if it were a great achievement.

"Okay, no swords," Snotlout shrugged. "But what about _fire?"_

Hiccup didn't know where Snotlout got it from, but the next moment, Snotlout was holding a torch out to Astrid, dangerously close to her skin. Astrid yelped and jumped backwards again.

"SNOTLOUT!" Hiccup yelled again. "STOP IT."

"Okay, okay, fine!" Snotlout said. He threw the torch to the side. "No fire, either."

Hiccup was about to thank Snotlout (although it would have been done in sarcasm and snarkiness), when a shout made him freeze. "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!" the voice of a woman shouted. "SOMEONE THREW A TORCH IN IT!"

Hiccup looked, and sure enough, the house was burning, flames crawling up the walls and burning from the inside out.

Hiccup was officially _done_ with Snotlout.

"Oh, no!" Astrid cried. "The house is burning! Someone do something!" Normally, Astrid would be the one shouting, "Dragons, everyone!" if Hiccup didn't beat her to it, but now, she was crying out in despair, begging people to do something to help.

Hiccup really did not like this new side of Astrid, but he knew that it was something they would have to fix later. Right now, they had to put out the fire in the burning building.

"Snotlout, Fishlegs!" Hiccup shouted. "Get to your dragons! Get buckets, and bring water from the well! We need to put out this fire before it gets worse!" He ran forward, Toothless hot on his heels, towards the door of the house.

He knew he had to find out if there were survivors in there.

"Hiccup, no!" Astrid shouted desperately. She reached out to him, her fingers enclosing around his wrist to keep him from racing forward. "Hiccup, no!" she repeated. "You'll get hurt! It's dangerous!"

Hiccup knew it was dangerous, but he also knew that there were most likely people (or animals) in the house who had to be saved.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," he said. "I have to do this, alright? Stay out here. Stay safe, and do _not_ come near the fire!" The last part, he called over his shoulder as he jerked away from her, and charged into the house.

It was hard to breathe; really, that was the first thing Hiccup noticed when he and Toothless jumped through the door of the house. Smoke rose from burning wood, and the fire only continued to grow.

"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup said. He coughed, trying not to breathe any more than he had to. Breathing in smoke wasn't good, and he knew that. "Let's find 'em."

It took a remarkably short amount of time for Hiccup and Toothless to complete their task. They found two sheep (hiding underneath the bed, bleating in terror), and the owner of the house; a middle-aged woman, trying to reach upstairs to break out of the window.

"Go, go, go!" Hiccup shouted as soon as he and Toothless found what they were looking for. The woman was the first to go, followed by the sheep. As soon as they were out, Hiccup, coughing as he went, followed them, Toothless bringing up the rear.

The clear air had never been more inviting. He breathed it in, almost greedily; smoke was not fun to breathe. He looked up at the sky: Fishlegs and Snotlout were coming back in, their dragons holding troughs of water.

"NOW!" Hiccup shouted, and the riders obeyed, dumping the water over the burning building. Within moments, the flames were extinguished. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief.

A moment later, he heard a high pitched, feminine voice shout, "Hiccup!", followed by Astrid slamming against him in a hug. Hiccup stumbled backwards, just slightly before he patted her head awkwardly.

"Don't do that again!" Astrid said pleadingly. "Please don't do that again! You almost got hurt!"

Hiccup didn't respond. He didn't know how to. He coughed and sighed. This new side of Astrid was very, very hard to deal with.

Hiccup was about to congratulate Snotlout and Fishlegs and tell them what a great job they did, when another shout kept him from speaking. "HICCUP!" the voice of his father shouted.

The Chief of Berk stepped forward, the crowds parting to make way for him. Stoick looked at Astrid, the burning building, and then Hiccup. "What happened!?" Stoick demanded.

Hiccup winced. Stoick probably thought it was a lot worse than it was. Astrid was never clingy, and when she was, it was only because Hiccup was hurt, or because he'd almost died.

Neither of which had actually happened.

Hiccup sighed, finally managing to pull away from Astrid. He was going to have to tell his father about Gothi's hypnosis, and what went wrong during the hypnosis, too. "Well," he said, clapping his hands together, "I guess I have some explaining to do."


	5. Chapter 5

**You guys are so lucky! You get THREE chapters today! This story's moving so fast...**

 **Anyways, I hope you like chapter 5! Just so you know, there will be Hiccstrid in some of these chapters and more chapters to come, just to late you all know. :) Yeah. My internet's terrible right now, so I'm going to finish this up and hopefully post it before it goes out again. XD Enjoy chapter 5! :D**

* * *

"So let me get this straight…" Stoick said once Hiccup had finished explaining from start to finish. "Gothi hypnotized Astrid, and now, Astrid's afraid of everything?"

Hiccup nodded. "I know, it sounds crazy," he said, "but hypnosis is very powerful, and when used in the wrong ways, well...bad things happen, I suppose."

Stoick nodded.

"We really need to get Astrid back," Hiccup said, lowering his gaze. "She and Stormfly play a crucial part in our arsenal. If Astrid can't help us fight the next time we go against Dagur...I'm just not so sure what's going to happen."

"I'm sure it'll work out fine, son," Stoick said.

Hiccup sighed. "I wish I could be that sure," he muttered.

"Hey, Hiccup!" Snotlout called. Hiccup lifted his head, watching as his cousin ran through the plaza and towards them. "Astrid's at the armory. Gobber's going to try and find her something she can fight with that she doesn't end up being afraid of."

"I'm sure that's going great," Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"Actually, it's not going bad yet!" Snotlout said. "She hasn't turned and bolted, so I can assume it's going...well, as well as can be expected."

Snotlout turned and ran in the direction of the armory, and after a moment, Hiccup followed, leaving his father behind. Hiccup really, really hoped they could get the real Astrid back soon.

Sure, Astrid played an important part when it came to the riders' attacks against Dagur, but in honesty, Hiccup could have cared less about what happened with their formations. Berk's fleet, and the dragon riders could take on Dagur.

He was really worried about her. She was his friend, after all. Girlfriend, if Hiccup would dare use that term (which, at the moment, he didn't). He was worried about her safety.

Gobber was standing in front of Astrid at the armory when Hiccup arrived. Fishlegs, the twins, and Snotlout were all behind Astrid, watching Gobber with fascination.

"How about this?" Gobber asked, taking a sword off the shelf and handing it to Astrid. "It's not as big as your axe."

Astrid took a step backwards. "No," she shook her head. "It's...it's still too big. You could put an eye out with that thing."

"Really!?" the twins shouted in unison. "We want it!"

"Not a chance!" Gobber pulled the sword back. Sighing in Astrid's direction, disappointment clear on his face, Gobber set the sword aside and grabbed a dagger the length of Astrid's forearm. "How about this, then?" he offered. "It's not quite as big, but it's still got a good, sharp blade."

"Sharp?" Astrid said shakily. "N-no thanks. You could hurt someone with that."

Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked up. "We can!?" they shouted.

"No, no, don't even think about it," Hiccup said. "You aren't getting the dagger."

"Aww!" they cried.

Gobber set the dagger to the side before the twins decided to take it by force. "Well, lass," he said, "there's only one more thing I can think, and that's, this." He spun around, and turned back to face the riders, a small knife held in his grip. "This is it, lass," he said. "This should work well for ya."

Astrid took one look at the knife and nodded uneasily. "Yeah," she said. "That's great...if you want to get yourself killed!" She shook her head violently. "N-no thanks," she said for the second time since Gobber began introducing his weapons. "I'm actually good. In fact, I don't think I need a weapon after all. Everything you've shown me so far is much too dangerous, and that knife is way too sharp."

The twins opened their mouths, excited.

"No, you can't have the knife," Hiccup said flatly.

The twins shut their mouths and pouted.

"Astrid, the blade isn't even sharp!" Gobber said, running his finger along the edge of the knife as if to prove his point. "This is the safest weapon I've got that you can defend yourself with. If you don't take this, there isn't anything left for me to do."

"Then I guess I just won't be able to defend myself," Astrid said. "I'll hide instead of fighting. No one will find me if I hide."

"Look, Astrid, it's not that bad!" Snotlout said, striding towards Gobber. He yanked the knife away from Gobber and swung it forward. Astrid yelped and recoiled. Hiccup wanted to yell at his cousin for being so thoughtless, but at the same time, he knew Snotlout was just trying to help.

He knew Snotlout felt guilty for what he did, and he knew that the Jorgenson boy was trying to fix things, although really, he was making it worse instead.

"I'm good!" Astrid said, shaking her head and her hands back and forth for extra emphasis. "Really, I'm good! I don't need a weapon! I don't need to fight, I should be able to defend myself just fine, you know, by...hiding and not defending myself."

"Astrid, if Dagur attacks," Fishlegs said, "we need every rider we can get."

"Right!" Hiccup agreed. "At least hang onto the knife, Astrid, just in case something happens that you need it."

Astrid still looked terrified, but instead of protesting, she simply nodded. "Fine," she said, "but only because you insist." She took the knife from Snotlout timidly, holding it as though it would explode if she held it too tightly. Slowly, she slipped the knife onto her belt and stared at it as if it would attack.

"Okay then," Hiccup said. "We're good now. Come on, Astrid."

Astrid didn't look up at him. She only continued staring at the knife, her eyes wide. Hiccup sighed and stepped towards her. "Come on, Astrid," he repeated. When she still didn't move, he took her arm and pulled her in the opposite direction, away from the armory.

"Hang on," Astrid pulled away from Hiccup abruptly. "I'm going to go find a sheath for this thing. I don't want to cut myself, or one of you guys by mistake, right?"

Hiccup was about to protest and tell her that the knife Gobber gave her probably couldn't even cut bread, but before he could, she turned and bolted in the opposite direction.

Hiccup sighed heavily. He really didn't know what to think of this "new Astrid". She was very clingy, very shy, and very, very terrified of everything. Hiccup didn't know what to think of her, except that he wanted the Astrid that replaced the Astrid he knew gone.

He was also worried about hypnosis...if Astrid went too long without being re-hypnotized, would she be forever scared and terrified?

"Alright, that's it," Hiccup said. "We have to get Astrid back to Gothi and hypnotized again, before we lose the real Astrid forever."

"I totally agree," Gobber said, stepping forward, coming to stand directly beside his apprentice. "Just one question…"

He looked around, as did Hiccup beside him; no sign of Astrid, wherever they looked.

"Where'd she go?" Gobber finished.


	6. Chapter 6

**So, my internet is still terrible. It goes on and off, but I managed to write this chapter, and hopefully the posting goes through a-okay without the internet blocking me out. -_- Stupid internet. Oh well. :) A writer cannot triumph all the time...**

 **I just finished reading the seventh book in the HTTYD series. Great book. I loved it. Now I can't wait to get the eighth book in the series...all such amazing books! :)**

 **Anyways, enjoy chapter 6!**

* * *

Hiccup and Toothless soared over Berk, over Raven Point, searching for Astrid. The other riders were checking the village, the old Academy, and the forge, and so far, they had found nothing.

Hiccup looked down, his eyes scanning the trees below. He was just about to tell Toothless to turn around and head back towards the village, when a sudden shout cut him off.

"HELP!" the voice of Astrid shouted, and Hiccup looked closer. One of the trees was swaying, and it wasn't because of the wind.

"There, Toothless!" Hiccup directed, and Toothless tucked in his wings and shot downwards, towards the tree that was moving while the other trees remained still. There was Astrid, clinging to the top branch of the tree, trying to find a grip.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, watching her in confusion. For the longest moment, he didn't know what to say, and when he _did_ find his voice, the only thing he managed to shout was, "You're in a tree!"

"I know _that!"_ Astrid cried. Her fingers scrambled to grab a tighter hold on the branch, but to no avail. She tried kicking her feet up, but that just made the tree sway more violently. "I was trying to find a sheath of some sort, but then, something jumped me, Hiccup!" Astrid shrieked. "And I climbed up here! Unfortunately-!"

"Let me guess!" Hiccup twirled his finger around his head. "You're afraid of heights!"

"YES!" Astrid confirmed. "How did you know!?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Lucky guess!" he said. Toothless soared in underneath her, and Hiccup lifted his arms. "Let go of the branch, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted.

"WHAT!?" Astrid cried. "No! Let go of the branch!? Are you crazy!?"

"I'll catch you!" Hiccup called back. "Just let go of the branch! I promise you, Astrid, I won't let you fall!"

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted back. "I can't...I can't hold on!"

"I'm not asking you to hold on!" Hiccup said. Really, this was annoying. He was worried for Astrid's sake, and he was also hoping she would let go of that branch so he could get her back to Gothi. Maybe the elderly woman fixed her staff by now. "I'm telling you to let it go!"

Astrid looked down at him, her eyes wide and trusting. Then, she shut her eyes, grit her teeth, and released her grip on the branch.

She fell and screamed. Toothless dove, caught her on his back, and Hiccup instantly grabbed Astrid to stop her thrashing. "Hey, it's okay!" he assured her. "We caught you, see? Just like I promised."

Astrid stopped thrashing. She met his eyes, and looked back down at the forest floor. "You did," she said as if she hadn't expected him to catch her at all (which, in honesty, disappointed Hiccup). "Thank you."

"You're...you're welcome," Hiccup said. "Come on, let's get back to Gothi's."

...

"Are you sure this is safe, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. She stood on Gothi's platform with Hiccup beside her and Gobber standing behind Gothi. Hiccup noticed that the twins, Fishlegs and Snotlout hadn't followed, and in honesty, he was kind of thankful they hadn't. Snotlout, to be precise.

Hiccup was still unbelievably angry with his cousin, although he tried to hide it as best he could. It was Snotlout's fault to begin with, and all Snotlout ever did was make it harder for everyone when he tried to be "helpful" by accidentally scaring Astrid.

Astrid looked uncertain. "I...I mean...I don't...I'm not so sure…" she said shakily.

Gothi paced back and forth, grabbing random herbs as she went and dumping them into a small bowl. She mixed the contents of the bowl, and handed them out to Astrid.

"It's fine, Astrid," Hiccup promised, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder. "I promise, it's fine. Gothi's the best healer around. You can trust her."

Nodding shakily, Astrid took the bowl from Gothi and downed its contents. Afterwards, she slammed the bowl back against the table and clicked her tongue. "Oh, gross," she groaned. "What _was_ that?"

Gothi stepped back and crossed her arms, almost smugly.

"Nothing, actually," Gobber said. "It's supposedly going to calm your nerves, Astrid, but in honesty, I think Gothi's just tryin' to mess with ya. A little payback for breaking her staff."

Astrid's eyes widened. "I didn't mean to do that!" she insisted. "I didn't mean to break it! I'm sorry!"

"Astrid, we get it," Hiccup said. "It's okay." Astrid lowered her head, turned, and walked slowly in the opposite direction, towards the end of the platform. Hiccup looked up at the village healer. "It's great that you're trying to get revenge and all, Gothi," he said; if Gothi had her staff, she would have whacked Hiccup with it, "but what about getting Astrid back?"

Gothi drew in the sand with a stick (really a poor replacement for her staff, but luckily it was only temporary), and Gobber leaned over the runes to translate. "She can't re-hypnotize Astrid without her staff," Gobber said.

"Great, but I already knew that," Hiccup snapped back. Really, he wanted answers to questions he hadn't already answered for himself. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Gothi scribbled more out on the sand. "Bravery," Gobber read. "Only an act of true bravery will shock Astrid back to normal."

"Great," Hiccup rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, yeah, that's good, because Astrid over here isn't _not_ afraid of anything."

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried from the left, followed by her springing towards her and clutching his arm desperately. "There's-there's this thing! It's...it's coming after me, Hiccup! Get it away!"

Hiccup lifted his head. Ruffnut and Tuffnut slowly walked out of Gothi's hut, wiggling their fingers mysteriously with burlap sacks over their heads. There were faces drawn on the sacks where Ruffnut and Tuffnut's faces would be, and as soon as they were in everyone's view, they cackled and ripped the sacks off their heads.

"LOKI'D!" they cheered in a sing-song voice, their voices full of triumph. They smashed their heads together in celebration.

Hiccup was about to yell at them and scold them for pranking Astrid like that, when all of a sudden, there was a screech of terror. Not just any screech of terror, though.

It was a screech of terror that Hiccup recognized.

He looked up towards the sky and gasped. "Stormfly!?" he shouted. And sure enough, it was Stormfly, flying full speed ahead, straight towards them, roaring frantically.

"Stormfly?" Astrid asked. She released her hold on Hiccup and stepped forward, keeping a large distance between her and the edge of the platform. "Stormfly!" Astrid cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.

The Deadly Nadder screeched and dove downwards, straight towards the platform. The dragon landed directly in front of Astrid, and Astrid jumped backwards, but just for a moment before she raced forward again towards her dragon.

She didn't cough or sneeze as she neared Stormfly, which relieved Hiccup, but he was still a little nervous about why Stormfly was here, and why she was so...scared. Hiccup was used to seeing Stormfly scared; she was a lot like her rider, in a lot of ways. But then again, Hiccup supposed, times changed.

If something was bothering Stormfly, it must have been pretty serious.

"Hey, hey, Stormfly," Hiccup said calmly, the way he spoke whenever he trained a new species of dragon (or a new dragon at all). "It's okay. Easy, girl, easy…" Stormfly ducked her head, and Hiccup flattened his palms against her muzzle. He knelt down, his eyes looking the dragon over for any sign of injury. "Well, it doesn't look like she's injured…" he mused out loud.

"But she's definitely worried about something," Astrid said. She looked her dragon over, and then, she gasped. "Hiccup, look."

Hiccup jerked in the direction she pointed to, and he noticed a rolled up scroll tied to one of Stormfly's horns. As quickly as possible, Hiccup reached forward and took the piece of paper off. He unrolled it and read it silently to himself.

 _Oh Thor, oh Thor, oh Thor…_ he thought over and over again.

"What is it?" Astrid asked from behind him. "What does it say?"

Hiccup gulped. "It says," he said, "'Hello, brother.'"


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, guys! Here's chapter 7! It's a bit longer than the previous chapters...a little bit over 2,000 words, so yeah. I hope you guys like it. This is when the pieces really start coming together. ;) Love you guys! Stay awesome, fellow Dragonites! :D**

* * *

"Dagur?" Astrid asked worriedly. It was evening now, the full moon hanging high in the quickly darkening sky. "Are you sure it's him, Hiccup? I don't know, maybe you read it wrong..."

Even as she said it, though, she knew that it wasn't the case. She knew it was Dagur; Dagur was the only person in the world who called Hiccup "brother." And Dagur was also the only person who would tie a note to Stormfly and send her back to Berk with a partial warning.

She was scared, though. She was worried for Hiccup's sake.

Hiccup packed his spyglass into Toothless' saddlebag, nodding. "It's Dagur, Astrid," he said. "There's no doubt about it. It's him, and he's probably on his way here."

Astrid looked back down at the ground and shuffled her feet, kicking up dirt and dust as she did so. She didn't know why, but she felt unnaturally terrified. Normally, she wouldn't be so worried, but now…

"But do you really have to go out and meet him, Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "I...I mean...Dagur's...he's dangerous, Hiccup. He could hurt you."

Hiccup turned his head in her direction briefly before strapping Toothless' saddlebag shut. He put his hand on Toothless' side and hoisted himself onto the dragon's back, clicking his prosthetic into the foot pedal. "I'll be careful," he said. "I promise."

Hiccup had been promising a lot lately, and although part of Astrid liked the reassurance, she knew that he was still only human. If Dagur somehow managed to hurt Hiccup, Hiccup's promise would break.

"Promises don't mean anything," Astrid shook her head. "Dagur doesn't care about promises, Hiccup. He could promise you one thing and do another. You could promise me things all you want, but...but if you're not able to keep the promises…"

"I'll do my best, Astrid," Hiccup said. "Dagur won't hurt me without a fight. But are you sure you don't want to come with us? We can always use the extra rider, you know."

Astrid had thought about tagging along, but decided not to. Going along would involve her bringing a weapon, and worse, it would involve her getting on Stormfly and charging into war, which was something she simply did not want to do.

She shook her head. "No, it's okay," she said. "Fighting isn't really my...thing, you know."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Alright," he said. "If you don't want to, I won't force you. Just...try to stay out of trouble, alright?"

Astrid nodded.

Hiccup turned towards Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins, who were sitting on top of their dragons a few feet away. "Alright, gang!" Hiccup called to them. "Let's go see if we can't stop Dagur before he reaches Berk!"

"Snotlout, Snotlout!" Snotlout cheered. "Oy, oy, oy! We're on FIRE! OW, HOOKFANG! NOT LITERALLY! YEOWCH!"

The dragons spread their wings and took to the sky, flying over the ocean. Astrid watched them until they were out of sight, and even then, she didn't move, standing, her eyes staring into the horizon.

The sun was setting. The skies were growing dark, and stars were beginning to show themselves.

Astrid didn't feel especially reassured, with Hiccup and the other riders rushing off in an attempt to stop (or at least slow down) Dagur the Deranged and his fleet of maniacs (not a large fleet, thank goodness, but a fleet was a fleet either way).

Astrid still couldn't believe how calm Stoick had acted when Astrid and Hiccup told him about the letter. Stoick had told Hiccup that he would begin to get Berk's soldiers together, and he also told his son to be careful, which Hiccup agreed to.

Astrid really hoped Hiccup kept that promise.

…

It didn't take long for Hiccup and the other riders to find Dagur's fleet. About fifteen ships sailed through the ocean, cutting through the water like knives through smooth butter. Hiccup looked; catapults, of course, although there weren't very many, which made him relieved.

"Alright, guys!" Hiccup called. "We're going to do this nice and easy! They have fifteen ships...Fishlegs, roughly how many people can fit on one Berserker ship?"

"If it's a tight squeeze, I'd say about twenty, maybe thirty if they try hard enough," Fishlegs said, "but generally, ten to fifteen soldiers can fit comfortably on a ship, plus all the weapons and catapults they're carrying."

Hiccup nodded and mentally calculated the numbers in his head: if there were ten soldiers each ship, that made one hundred and fifty soldiers total. Not a huge number, but still, the number was reasonably large. If there were fifteen men each ship, that bumped the number up a bit (two hundred twenty five), but still, not much more.

Hiccup knew that he and the other riders could handle it.

Or, at the very least, he _hoped_ they could handle it.

"Okay!" he called. "Take out half the ships! We want them to retreat, and we can't do that if they don't have anything to retreat with! Use the same strategy we tried before! Snotlout and Fishlegs go from the back, and the twins and I will go for the front! GO!"

"Signal!" Tuffnut cheered. "Whoot, whoot! Yeah!" Barf and Belch rocketed towards the ships while Snotlout and Fishlegs turned their dragons around to bring up the rear. Toothless dove downwards, right after the twins.

"FIRE!" shouts came from the ships, followed by arrows from crossbows filling the air. Boulders from the catapults followed in close pursuit, and bolas followed the boulders and arrows.

Dodging was remarkably easy. Toothless fired a plasma blast at one of the ships, and the blast met its mark, leaving a giant, menacing hole in the wooden deck of the vessel. Soldiers shrieked and dove overboard, swimming towards the other ships.

Plasma blasts. Hookfang's fire. Meatlug's lava. The twins' explosive gas. So far, they were doing a remarkably good job at sinking ships and leaving men to scramble for what ships they had left.

Unfortunately, they were still missing an important part in their fleet.

Astrid.

Normally, Astrid would help Hiccup defend himself, and he would do likewise for her. Between him and Astrid, they worked to protect the other riders while Snotlout, the twins and Fishlegs worked to do the real damage.

But now, Hiccup didn't have Astrid.

And he didn't see the arrow coming towards his chest until it was too late.

…

Astrid paced back and forth in front of Stormfly, jumping whenever the dragon growled or cooed.

"I'm getting worked up for nothing," Astrid told herself, wringing her hands together so harshly her knuckles were white and her skin was rubbed raw. She bit her nails, which had become blunt over the past few hours while Hiccup and the other riders were away. "Hiccup said he would be careful. He promised, and he doesn't break his promises...right, Stormfly?"

Stormfly shrugged and growled.

Astrid sighed. "You're right," she said. "He'll be back."

A large hand squeezed Astrid's shoulder, and although she flinched and jumped, she didn't squeal or screech and run to hide. She knew in a heartbeat that the hand belonged to Stoick, and she trusted Hiccup's father very much.

"Any sign of 'em?" Stoick asked.

Astrid shook her head. "I'm worried, Stoick," she said, concern practically dumping into her words. "Wh...what if something happened? What if they need help?"

Stoick squeezed his shoulder tighter. "I'm sure they're fine, Astrid," he said. "Hiccup is a bright lad, and he certainly isn't stupid. He knows how to keep a level head. They'll be back before you know it." Stoick lowered his gaze. "Why don't you come inside, Astrid?" he offered.

Astrid sighed, but nodded, accepting the man's invitation. She stepped through the threshold of the Haddock residence, Stoick coming in behind her and shutting the door.

"Can I get you anything, Astrid?" Stoick asked.

Astrid shook her head. She was far, far too worried and scared for Hiccup's sake to actually think of eating or drinking anything. "No, thank you," she said.

Stoick gestured to a chair. "You can sit down if you like."

Another shake of her head. "No, I'd...I'd really rather stand, please," she said. "But thank you for offering."

Hiccup and the others had left hours ago. Astrid thought that they would be back by now, but so far, of course, they hadn't seen any sign of Hiccup, the other riders, or the Berserkers.

Where were they?

Suddenly, as if answering her unasked question, the door was kicked open so quickly and harshly Astrid was sure she'd heard one of the hinges snap. To her shock, horror, and terror, Snotlout and Fishlegs stood in the doorway, a barely-conscious Hiccup supported between them.

"Hiccup!" Stoick gasped as soon as he saw his son's state. He jumped to his feet and raced forward, pursued by Astrid.

No. No, no, no, what happened to Hiccup? He promised her he would be careful. He _promised._

"Stoick, he's hurt," Fishlegs panted. Snotlout stumbled, and Stoick caught Hiccup so that the injured dragon rider was now being held by three protective holds, two of his friends and his father as well. "He's hurt...bad."

Hiccup's knees buckled, and he was lowered to the ground. "Go," Stoick ordered, speaking to Snotlout and Fishlegs although his eyes were on Hiccup. "Go get Gothi."

"The twins are already on it," Fishlegs answered, "but...but I'll go get water." He turned and raced outside instantly.

Astrid ran to Hiccup's side and collapsed by him. It was then she noticed, with sickening horror, an arrow sinking into Hiccup's skin in his left chest. The arrow was either buried somewhere in his ribs, or it was just barely missed his ribs.

"Hiccup?" Astrid whispered. She smoothed her hands over his face. His skin was cold, and it had taken on a waxy, unhealthy tinge that made her wince. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "No, Hiccup, please…"

She was so scared for him, she feared she would faint.

Stoick shot to his feet, leaving his son with Astrid and Snotlout while he collected thick cloths and returned afterwards. He wrapped them around the arrow and pressed them against Hiccup's skin, trying to stem the bloodflow without jostling the arrow. Hiccup moaned, and Astrid's heart broke for him. She stroked his dark hair out of his face, trying to keep from crying.

"What happened!?" Stoick demanded.

"Dagur," Snotlout breathed. "Hiccup wasn't properly defended…" He stopped right there, and then looked at Astrid sharply. "This is your fault," he said. "We really could have used your help out there, Astrid! We needed your help! _Hiccup_ needed your help! He's not used to not having you there to fight by his side, and when he needs you the most, you're not there to help him! _You_ did this! This is all _your fault!"_

Astrid sat, shocked at what she had heard, although she didn't deny any of it. Deep down, she knew (or some part of her did) that it was her fault. If she had only swallowed her fear and got on Stormfly's back to help Hiccup and the others, he probably wouldn't have gotten so wounded.

But...unfortunately, she knew that she hadn't been there. She hadn't been there when she was needed the most.

She'd failed the riders.

And now, Hiccup was the one suffering because of it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys! :D**

 **So, I was just wondering, do you guys like this take, or do you like the original Race to the Edge episode better? Or do you like them both? I just wanna know, you know, just so I can determine whether or not you guys want me to do more episode what-ifs. :)**

 **With that being said, a few of you were wondering if my other story, "Ouch!", was completed, or if there are going to be more chapters. The answer is: yes, there will be more chapters. It is not finished. I will probably post more in "Ouch!" over my hiatus months. Throughout the months where I'm not on hiatus, I'll be focusing more on writing full-stories instead of one-shots. I hope you guys don't mind. ;) And that doesn't mean that I won't update "Ouch!" AT ALL this month. It just means they won't be as frequent. :)**

 **On another note, due to school, I might have to shorten my posting time. Instead of two months of posting and one month of hiatus, I'm going to have to post one month and take a one month hiatus. I know, guys, I'm sorry, but I have to do good in school...that's important. Hope I do well! :D Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy chapter 8! :D BYE! :D**

* * *

"Sire!" Savage ran to Dagur, panting as he did so, his hands placed on his knees as soon as he halted in front of his leader. "The dragon riders took out almost half of our ships! Should we retreat-"

"NO!" Dagur snapped, spinning around to face Savage. He looked ready to grab the ex-Outcast and throw him overboard for thinking such a thing. Savage shrank backwards as if hoping he could quite literally sink into the floorboards and be gone forever.

"If we don't have all our ships," Dagur said, "then get me the smallest one we have, the sharpest weapon we've got, and I'll go in myself. If the arrow didn't finish Hiccup off, I sure will." He took out his knife and held it at Savage's throat threateningly. "Now," he said, "did I hear you say something about retreating?"

"N-no, Sire!" Savage stuttered. He lifted his hand to his head in a fear driven salute, his mouth curved in a nervous smile. "I didn't say anything like that!"

"Good," Dagur said. "I would fear for your life if you had." He turned towards the rest of the men and lifted his hands. "Empty this ship!" he said. "I will go alone to finish what I started!" He looked down at the knife in his hands and smiled. "Soon, Hiccup," he said. "If that arrow hasn't already finished you off, then believe me, _this_ will." He smiled at the dagger, lifted his head, and waited for his men to finish the task he had given to them.

…

"Is he okay?"

That one question in it of itself had become almost a second language to Astrid. It didn't matter that she had been asking the question practically every five seconds. She never stopped asking. It never crossed her mind to.

Gothi had arrived at the scene not too long after Snotlout and Fishlegs half-dragged Hiccup inside the Haddock abode. Removing the arrow hadn't been pretty; in fact, it may have been the most gruesome scene the riders had ever witnessed. Snotlout and the twins paced in the background helplessly while Fishlegs helped Gothi with anything she needed and Astrid remained by Hiccup's side as if she had been glued there. No one could pull her away or convince her to leave.

So far, no one had tried either option.

The blood had been the biggest issue, in all honesty. Stopping the blood flow had taken longer than what was hoped for, and now, Hiccup laid limply on blankets spread out on the floor with another blanket brought over his frame. Although the arrow had penetrated his lower rib cage, the bandages were wrapped around the wound and up to his chest. Astrid couldn't help but look at the tightly bound gauze and feel guilty.

Snotlout was right. It _was_ her fault this happened. There was no one to blame except her. If she hadn't stayed behind...if she'd just gulped down her fear and got on her dragon's back...maybe she could have prevented this. No, she was _sure_ she could have prevented this.

And yet, while Hiccup and the other riders left to fight Dagur, she'd stayed behind.

 _What a great friend I turned out to be,_ she thought bitterly.

"Is he okay?" she asked again for the utmost time.

"Well, the arrow didn't hit any organs, so he should be fine in a few weeks," Gobber translated as Gothi wrote out in the dirt. "Except, what we really need to worry about now is infection. Removing that arrow wasn't pretty. The head was carved jaggedly. It was forged to make the removal of the arrow even more painful than the wound itself. I would know. I used to make 'em back when we killed dragons. They're...well...horrible."

Astrid winced. And to think, Hiccup had one of those driven through his lower chest. She glanced to the side; the arrow was lying on the floor where Gothi had cast it after its removal, the arrowhead stained with blood. Astrid saw what Gobber meant; the head of the arrow wasn't smooth. It was jagged, the jagged parts of the arrow folded towards the shaft, so any attempt to pull the arrow out of skin would be beyond painful.

Astrid understood that.

It made her want to be sick.

They were lucky Berk had a good healer, or she really didn't know where they would have been. Gothi had to practically dig the arrow out of Hiccup's skin with a dagger.

Probably the main reason Astrid marked it off as the most gruesome thing she had ever had to witness.

"We took out half of Dagur's ships, though," Snotlout said from the other side of the room. "He won't be able to attack, and if he does, he won't be able to do any damage."

"How many men does he have with him?" Stoick questioned. For the most part, Hiccup's father had remained quiet, probably just as horror-stricken as Astrid was about this affair.

"Somewhere around one hundred fifty," Fishlegs spoke up. "Most of the weapons sank with the ships, though, so attacking us now would be foolish on Dagur's part. He's not a fool. He won't attack unless he knows he can take us."

"I hope he attacks," Stoick growled. "That way, I can wring his throat for doing this to my son."

"You might change your mind about that, Stoick," Gobber said matter-of-factly. "Right now, our problem isn't Dagur, and it'd probably be best if we were to keep it that way. Revenge can come later. Right now, our main focus is Hiccup."

No one argued, only because they knew Gobber was right. Right now, they had to focus on keeping Hiccup safe and well. If they couldn't do that, then it didn't matter if they beat Dagur or not, because Hiccup would be gone.

Astrid didn't want that to happen.

She couldn't let that happen, not to Hiccup. Especially since it would be her fault. If he died now, she would be the only one to blame. Not Snotlout, or Fishlegs, or the twins, or Stoick, or anyone.

Just her, because she was too afraid to help the riders.

"He'll be alright," Gobber said. He motioned to Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Astrid, and Fishlegs with his hook of a hand. "You kids should go off and get some rest."

While most of them nodded and headed away, albeit reluctantly, Astrid shook her head and remained stubbornly at Hiccup's side. "No," she said. "I...I want to stay, if that's alright…"

She'd expected an argument, but Stoick and Gobber only nodded. "Alright, lass," Gobber said. "As long as Stoick doesn't mind."

Stoick shook his head. "I don't," he said. "Just let 'im rest, Astrid."

Astrid nodded, thankful that Hiccup's father agreed with letting her stay. "I-I will, Sir," she promised. "Thank you."

"Thank you for taking care of him, Astrid," Stoick said. "If Hiccup were awake, he'd thank you as well. You're good to him, Astrid."

Astrid looked down. _No I'm not,_ she thought to herself. _It's my fault he was hurt in the first place._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello! :D**

 **Just so you guys know (one reviewer was wondering), "sir" and "sire" have about the same meaning. "Sire" was not misused or misspelled in the last chapter. Just so that one reviewer knows. ;)**

 **Thanks for the reviews last chapter, as usual! They encourage me a lot! :) So, thanks for all the support, and I hope you like chapter 9! We're coming pretty close to the conclusion here...yeah, I'm pretty excited! :D Enjoy chapter 9!**

* * *

Stoick left to do a round with the soldiers he had gathered, just to make sure Dagur wasn't coming in after all with the rest of his fleet. Astrid and Gobber remained at the Haddock residence. The fireplace was roaring, the embers illuminating (and warming) the room. It was a good thing, too, because shortly after Stoick's departure, Hiccup began shivering, no doubt due to the bloodloss the arrow wound had caused.

"It isn't your fault, lass," Gobber said quietly, his voice barely loud enough to be heard. "Snotlout didn't mean what he said. He was just upset, and he took it out on you. It wasn't your-"

"No, it _was_ my fault," Astrid said before Gobber could finish speaking. "I should have gone with them. If I hadn't stayed behind, I would have been able to prevent it. I...I should have gone. Snotlout was right. I'm the only one to blame for this."

Gobber shook his head. "No, you're wrong," he said. "It's actually Snotlout's fault you didn't go with them. Snotlout was the one who sabotaged the hypnosis. If he hadn't done that, you wouldn't have been too scared to follow them out to fight Dagur. If anyone's to blame, it's-"

"Me."

Gobber sighed. Astrid knew she was probably being difficult, but she couldn't help it. She also couldn't help but think, what _would_ have happened if she'd followed the other riders when they went after Dagur? Would Hiccup have gotten hurt, or would she have been able to prevent it?

"What happens if he doesn't make it?" Astrid whispered. That was another one of her fears; what if Hiccup didn't pull through? What if the bloodloss was simply too much on him? What if his body couldn't replenish the blood he needed and mend his wound at the same time? What if his body couldn't handle it?

"If he doesn't pull through," Astrid said, "it'll be all my fault."

"Don't even talk like that, Astrid," Gobber said, sounding more shocked than he looked. "Hiccup's stronger than he's given credit for. He'll pull through, you'll see. You needn't worry."

Astrid looked back down. She wished she could be as certain as Gobber.

"Lass," Gobber said, "Hiccup wouldn't blame you, and you know that."

"Of course I do," Astrid snapped back in response. She was pretty sure she hadn't meant to come out that snappy, but in the end, she didn't take it back. "Unconscious people normally don't go around blaming people."

Gobber sighed yet again for the second time during this conversation. "Astrid-"

"No, Gobber, please just stop," Astrid said. Her voice was a pleading contrast to her earlier, snarky tone, and if Gobber noticed, he didn't mention it. "You can't convince me that it isn't my fault, so please stop trying."

Gobber opened his mouth to protest, but in the end, he simply shut his mouth again and sighed (for the third time. Astrid supposed he sighed a lot when he didn't know what else to say). "Alright, lass," Gobber said. "Just take care of 'im. I'll be back a little later on."

As he made his way towards the door, he rested his hand on Astrid's shoulder. Astrid jerked away, not even glancing at the blacksmith. She didn't look back until she heard the door open and shut, and when she did look back, all she saw was an empty room.

She and Hiccup were alone.

She sighed heavily and rested her hand on Hiccup's forehead, pushing his bangs out of the way. It didn't feel like he had a fever coming on, but at the same time, she didn't know what Dagur used on his arrows. Poison, perhaps? She wasn't one hundred percent sure. Did he clean the arrows his men used, or did he let them rust and rot for months before they were actually put in the crossbows?

The thought made her stomach roll. If that was the case with Berserker arrows, Astrid didn't know what kind of trouble Hiccup was in for. He'd already lost so much blood. If he were to get sick on top of that, she knew he wouldn't be strong enough to fight it off.

Gobber had said that Hiccup was stronger than he was given credit for, and while, yes, Astrid believed that, she still didn't feel reassured. She was scared, worried, concerned, and everything in between for Hiccup's sake.

So, she stood up, leaving Hiccup's side reluctantly, fetched a basin of water and a rag, and returned to his side in haste. She soaked the rag in the water and wrang it out, the excess water dripping back into the bowl.

She folded the rag in half and used it to dab Hiccup's forehead, having the mindset that if he was going to get a fever, maybe she could stop it before it even began.

She would never get over how terrible he looked, no matter how much time passed after this moment. She would always remember the cold, waxy paleness of his skin, and forever remember the amount of blood that had been staining his clothes when Snotlout and Fishlegs first brought him inside. She would never forget the arrow lodged deep into Hiccup's skin, and she would never forget his scream as Gothi dug it out with a dagger.

The images would haunt her dreams until the day she died.

She took his hand carefully in her own, pressing the rag against his forehead with her other hand. She tried (and failed) to ignore the cold clamminess of his fingers. Seeing her friend in such a state made tears spring into her eyes, and she couldn't bring herself to care.

"Hiccup, please fight this," she pleaded, squeezing his hand. "You can fight through this. You have to. _Please,_ Hiccup. You can't give up."

…

Getting to Berk was easy, especially with the small ship Dagur used to reach his destination. Dagur heard soldiers marching through the streets of Berk and growled; no doubt, the dragon riders that escaped after Hiccup went down told Stoick all about Dagur and his men.

They were probably making sure Dagur wasn't still coming to attack.

Oh, well, too bad for them. Dagur wasn't coming to attack. He was coming to finish what he started. He was coming to finally end the rivalry between him and his brother. That was his goal, anyways.

He still wished his men would have taken down the Night Fury as well as Hiccup. When Hiccup was shot by the arrow, the other dragon riders had dropped what they were doing and raced to his rescue. While some of the dragons grabbed Toothless in their claws and flew the Night Fury back to Berk, the rest of the dragons and their riders took Hiccup back to Berk.

If only they'd been able to hit the Night Fury as well as Hiccup. Things would have been so much easier. Dagur could kill the Night Fury, _and_ Hiccup, both in one night.

Unfortunately, right now, he would have to settle for just killing Hiccup, and he supposed that was good enough for now.

He left the ship behind a sea stack and took an inconspicuous wooden, undecorated rowboat to the shores of Berk. As soon as he made it there, he pulled the boat onto the sandy beach and scanned his surroundings.

No soldiers.

No guards.

No dragons.

Pefect. The coast was clear.

Dagur pulled out his dagger; the sharpest one he could manage to find. He planned on giving Hiccup a slow, painful death, and he couldn't do that if the weapon was bigger than a dagger. Dagur planned on stabbing Hiccup in the chest, right beside where his heart would be, and a sword would be too big, and an axe wouldn't work.

So, although it was small, a dagger would serve its purpose.

"It's time, Hiccup," Dagur said, glancing at his dagger as moonlight reflected off the blade's face. "It's time to be put out of your misery."

He sheathed the blade, and continued onwards.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys! This is where things get cray-cray! :D WATCH ME HIT THE _CRAY_ BUTTON! *slams hand down on giant, flashing red button* **

**WAHA! :D :D :D Sorry, I'm so, so, so random over here in random world, derp. :P I hope you guys enjoy chapter 10! :D**

* * *

"You're not really mad at Astrid, are you, Snotlout?" Fishlegs asked.

Snotlout huffed and crossed his arms. "No, I'm not," he said angrily. "And why's it your business, anyway, Fishface? I can be mad at her if I want. It's not my fault she was hypnotized by Gothi like that."

Fishlegs looked down. "Actually, Snotlout, it kind of is," he said, raising his finger.

Snotlout jerked his head in Fishlegs' direction.

"I mean," Fishlegs went on, "you were the one who...started getting mad at me for being a 'worry wart'. Astrid heard that, and the hypnosis went wrong, and she kind of grew afraid of everything, even when it wasn't scary at all-"

"I know what happened, Fishlegs!" Snotlout snapped. He slammed his fist into his open palm. "I'm just mad at stupid Dagur, alright!?"

Fishlegs looked down again. "You should apologize, Snotlout," he said. "Before, you know...before she takes it too hard. It isn't her fault."

Snotlout sighed. "I'll...I'll...ap-apolo-gize…" He struggled to get the word out. Apologizing was something Snotlout rarely (if ever) did, and he wasn't used to admitting to folly. "I'll do that, after Hookfang and I finish getting these herbs Gothi wanted us to find."

"We'll come with you," Fishlegs offered. Meatlug stepped up beside him and growled in agreement.

"Um, okay, thanks, Fishlegs."

They mounted their dragons and took off towards the forests of Berk, unaware of the Berserker eyes watching from the shadows, and the ears listening to their conversation. Dagur smiled to himself.

"So," he said, "sounds like Hiccup's little girlfriend won't be any help to him, neither." He chuckled darkly. "Who knows. Maybe I'll manage to take out the both of them."

Slowly, ever so slowly, he crept from his hiding place and headed towards the Chief's house.

...

Hiccup was still unresponsive, and it didn't make Astrid feel any better. Her worry increased ten-fold, and there really wasn't anything she could do about it. She was panicking. What if the arrow hit an organ and they just didn't notice it? What if they _wouldn't_ notice it until it was too late? What if by the time they recognized it, Hiccup was dead, or beyond help?

What if the bloodloss was too much? What if his wound somehow reopened, and he lost a fatal amount of blood? What if the stitches Gothi put in were ripped out? What if the arrowhead was poisoned? What if the wound became infected? What if...what if...what if…

There were so many what ifs, and each one of them was more gruesome than the one before. Astrid shook her head, tears rolling down her face as she continued dabbing Hiccup's forehead and holding his hand.

The door was nudged open, and Astrid's head whipped around in that direction. Toothless poked his head through the door, his eyes becoming shocked and wide when he saw Hiccup. He roared and bounded towards them, sniffing Hiccup desperately. He nudged the side of Hiccup's head, and Hiccup didn't even moan.

"C-careful, Toothless," Astrid stuttered helplessly. She really, really hated feeling helpless. She absolutely positively hated it. But she was too scared right now to care. "He's hurt."

It felt stupid, saying that, as Toothless could probably smell Hiccup's wound and his bloodstained bandages, but the dragon didn't seem to mind Astrid repeating a fact he already knew. The Night Fury plopped down beside his rider and rested his head beside Hiccup's on the wooden floorboards, cooing sadly.

"He'll be okay, Toothless," Astrid said, although she didn't know whether or not she was lying. _Would_ Hiccup be okay? She certainly _hoped_ so, although she really didn't _know_ either way, so she couldn't promise anything.

Toothless only growled in concern in response.

Astrid was about to say something else, but before she could even get a word out, the door swung open again. Astrid thought it would be Stoick. She thought it would be Gobber. Maybe Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins, or Gothi.

But it wasn't any of them.

When she looked towards the door, she saw it was none other than Dagur the Deranged.

She gasped in shock. Toothless sprang to his feet and bared his teeth, standing over Hiccup defensively. But he didn't attack. Astrid thought that maybe, Toothless could smell metal.

A weapon.

Who knew what it was. A sword? An axe? A dagger? A knife? Heck, maybe it wasn an arrow without the crossbow. The point was, Astrid didn't know what Dagur had to defend himself with.

And she wasn't too keen on finding out.

"Well...well...well…" Dagur said, striding forward casually. He spread his hands. "If it isn't Astrid Hofferson. It's so nice to see you again."

Astrid gasped. Toothless growled.

"Ah, ah, ah, Night Fury," Dagur warned, shaking his finger back and forth. "Back down, or I'll kill all three of you."

Toothless growled.

"And don't even think about using your little plasma blasts, dragon," Dagur went on. "You know they won't do you any good now. I'll kill Hiccup before you even blast it."

Astrid didn't know what to feel. Her first initial emotion was fear, and that was something that came naturally. It was something she couldn't control. She wanted to run. She wanted to get up and run, and never look back until she was safe.

But if she did that, she would be leaving Hiccup at Dagur's mercy, and that was something she simply wasn't willing to do. Part of her wanted to run. She wanted to get up and run to save her life...but oddly enough, she felt something behind her fear. Something that told her to stay where she was and stand up to Dagur.

She didn't know where it came from.

Maybe it was because Hiccup was hurt. Maybe it was because she felt the need to protect him. He did so much for her in the past, of course. She didn't know what she would do if something were to happen to him.

"Oh," Dagur looked to where Hiccup was lying, a devilishly evil smile on his face. "Has someone been hurt?" He took another step forward. Astrid grabbed Hiccup's shoulders and pulled him into her lap, holding him protectively. "Oh, I do believe they have," Dagur said. "And would you take a look at that? It looks like my brother. Hiccup."

Astrid's horrified face slowly, ever so slowly, curved into a glare, if just slightly. She was scared of Dagur, but...she was going to defend Hiccup, whatever it took, even if that meant fighting back.

"It _does_ look serious," Dagur rubbed his hands together. "My poor brother. He must be in so much pain..." Dagur's voice trailed off, and he slowly pulled a knife from his belt. "Shouldn't we put him out of his misery?" Dagur asked.

Toothless growled, and Astrid yelped at the sight of the knife.

"A quick thrust of the knife is all it will take," Dagur said, twirling the blade between his fingers casually. "A knife to the chest...he will die a peaceful, quick death. No time to even think of where that unexpected pain suddenly came from...isn't that merciful of me, Astrid?"

Astrid only stared, terrified and horrified.

Dagur grinned, fingering the tip of his knife. "I feel that the end is near, brother," he grinned, staring straight down at Hiccup. "Your time has finally run out-"

"He's not your brother!" Astrid shouted; her voice came out as a pathetic squeak. "He wasn't ever, and he never will be your brother!"

Dagur shrugged, and took another step forward.

"Don't you _dare!"_ Astrid yelped. There was a feeling burning behind her fear of Dagur. A feeling that told her to attack Dagur where he stood. Attack him, overtake him, and defeat him.

But...her fear…

"You will not _touch_ him!" she hissed.

Dagur chuckled. "Oh, you won't attack me," he said. "Fearless Astrid Hofferson isn't so Fearless anymore, is she? I overheard some of your other dragon riders talking...you know, it was quite enjoyable, not having you come to attack me. I should thank you. If it hadn't been for your absence, I never would have shot Hiccup."

Astrid's glare hardened.

It seemed that at that moment, her eyes were opened. The words repeated in her head: _I never would have shot Hiccup. I never would have shot Hiccup. I shot Hiccup. I shot Hiccup. I shot Hiccup._

Dagur shot Hiccup.

It wasn't Astrid's fault, and she saw that now. It wasn't her fault; it was Dagur's. Dagur hurt Hiccup. Not Astrid, not Snotlout, not Fishlegs, and not the twins.

It was Dagur's fault Hiccup was unconscious and wounded.

 _Dagur's fault_.

Any trace of fear she had ever felt vanished instantly, and her fear was replaced with fury just as fast. Slowly, she moved Hiccup back onto the ground and took his knife from his belt. After she was armed, she slowly rose to a stand.

Dagur chuckled. "Oh," he smirked. "Competition, aye?"

Toothless roared. Dagur smiled even wider. "You aren't going to hurt me, Astrid," he said. "I heard what the others said. You were hypnotized, weren't you? And now, you're afraid. Afraid to fight me. Afraid to be brave."

Astrid's glare went from anger to ice-cold hatred and fury. _Maybe before,_ she thought, _but certainly not now_.

"I'm not afraid to be brave," she said. She looked back down at Hiccup briefly. "Just of losing him."

With that, she lunged.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! :D**

 **So, one reviewer was wondering where the links for "Wayward Foray" (sequel to Wayward Strangers) and "How Not To Give Up (last installment in the "How Not To" series), and unfortunately, I haven't written either story yet. o_o I KNOW! I KNOW! I'm awful! But I like to plan my writing out before I write it, and right now, the planning for "Wayward Foray" is going real slow, but the planning for "How Not To Give Up" is going rather splendidly. You can expect to see How Not to Give Up before Wayward Foray by any chance. ;)**

 **And also: because I have ideas that I can't get out of my head right now, I'm going to be writing either "Of Peace Treaties and Battle Cries" or "Stay With Me" after this piece is finished. I was wondering...which one do you guys want to see most (you can read the summaries on my profile if you fancy).**

 **So, sorry for the long A/N, stay amazing, and I will see you all next chapter! Thanks so much! I love you guys! DRAGONITES UNITE! *flies dramatically into sunset***

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Astrid fought with the fury of a thousand angry dragons who had their food stolen from their clutches. Dagur wasn't expecting it, and it wasn't exactly hard to see why. Astrid slashed and dove, throwing punches whenever possible. Her foot connected with Dagur's ribs in a kick. Her fist connected with his face in a punch. His fist smashed against her cheek in a punch of his own, and although she winced, she never stopped fighting.

Even if she had been alone with Dagur, she would have defeated him without a problem. Now, though, she had an angry Night Fury on her side, and Toothless was a dragon you didn't want to be on the bad side of.

Toothless roared in pure hatred and swung his tail at Dagur's chest. Dagur stumbled backwards with a cry of pain, but neither Astrid nor Toothless stopped fighting. They fought for the one they treasured more than their lives. They fought for the person they cared about more than anything else in the world.

They fought for Hiccup.

Astrid seized Dagur by the throat and held him tightly. Her face stung from his punch, and she knew she would have a bruise, although she really couldn't bring herself to care. Dagur coughed and laughed weakly, and Astrid choked him harder.

"Okay...OKAY," he coughed and chuckled mockingly. "You...you win! You win, I'll admit it!"

Astrid wanted to do so much more. She wanted to bring her dagger into Dagur's chest and be done with him without so much of a second thought, but in the back of her mind, some part of her heard Hiccup's voice, telling her not to do it. Hiccup's voice, telling her that there would be another time. Hiccup's voice, telling her that killing Dagur wasn't going to solve anything.

So, instead of bringing down the fatal blow, Astrid threw Dagur back to the ground and stood over him, her dagger gleaming against the light of the fireplace. "Leave," Astrid ordered. She pointed the knife in the direction of the door. " _Leave, NOW,_ before I do something drastic!"

Dagur rose to his feet. "There will be another time, girl," he snarled.

"Yeah," Astrid nodded. "And next time, you won't walk away from this alive. Leave. Get out of here, before I change my mind."

Dagur looked reluctant, and clearly, he was, but when Toothless growled at him, and when Astrid took a threatening step forward with the knife in her grip, Dagur turned and bolted out the door, leaving a furious Toothless and Astrid behind.

Astrid stood there, breathing heavily, her chest heaving. She wanted to go after Dagur; part of her did, anyways. But before she even had the chance to, a small, feeble, broken voice broke through the air and reached her ears.

"Astrid…"

Astrid spun on her heel, looking in Hiccup's direction. His eyes were only partially open, but as dazed and unfocused as they were, he was looking directly at her, his expression laced with confusion.

Astrid dropped the dagger and raced to him, collapsing to her knees at his side. She smiled unconvincingly. "Hey," she said. She put her hand against his cheek. "How're you doing?"

Hiccup smiled faintly, although it didn't reach his eyes. No one else would have noticed, but Astrid did, as she always noticed the small things with Hiccup. "I'm...I'm holding up okay," he said. "I...I don't...I don't know what happened. What…?"

"You were shot," Astrid explained. "Dagur. Snotlout and Fishlegs brought you back here, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut went to get Gothi."

Hiccup looked up at her blearily, frowning in confusion after another moment. He reached up slowly, his fingers brushing against the bruise on her cheek. She winced, but didn't mention being in pain. "Wh...what happened…?" he asked. "Not to me...to you?"

Astrid shook her head. Ah, poor Hiccup. He was so out of it he didn't hear any of the fight between her and Dagur. He didn't know that she had broken out of her hypnosis.

But really, that was okay, because he was awake now. She put her hand over his, her cheek pressed against his palm. "Nothing," she said. "I'm okay."

The concern didn't leave Hiccup's eyes. "I...I told...I told you to stay out of trouble," he said, weakly.

Astrid remembered that conversation. He _had_ told her to stay out of trouble. Well, too bad she never listened to him.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked. "You told me you'd be careful. You _promised_ me, Hiccup, and look where you are now."

Hiccup smiled again halfheartedly. "Well," he said hoarsely, "I guess neither one of us are very good at...keeping promises...are we?"

Astrid shook her head. "I guess not," she agreed. There was a beat of comfortable silence, and then, Toothless raced forward and pelted Hiccup with happy, relieved licks of joy. Hiccup laughed weakly and pushed Toothless back. Or, tried to, anyways. It was in vain, because Toothless didn't step back.

Not until Hiccup groaned in pain, his hands coming to clutch his wound. Then, Toothless backed away, cooing sadly.

"No...no, it's okay, buddy," Hiccup promised, reaching one shaky hand back towards the dragon. Toothless dipped his head and pressed his muzzle against Hiccup's palm, purring softly.

"It's okay," Hiccup repeated. "You didn't hurt me." Toothless rubbed his nose against Hiccup's cheek, and Hiccup shut his eyes, leaning his head against Toothless' with a small, content sigh.

Astrid moved to sit at Hiccup's other side, across from Toothless. "Does it hurt bad?" she asked.

Hiccup shook his head. "No," he said. "Just...just so long as I don't...you know...move...at all."

Astrid nodded. She knew being shot with an arrow wasn't going to be a non-painful process. It would be a _very_ painful process. "Then don't move," she offered. "You have no reason to move. You need to rest."

Hiccup's eyes opened again, and he gazed directly up at her. "But...but what about...Dagur?" he asked worriedly. "Is...is he still...going to attack? Or...or did the other riders stop him?"

Astrid shook her head. "Dagur isn't attacking, and the other riders didn't stop him," she said simply.

Hiccup looked confused. "But...but who-"

"I did, Hiccup," Astrid said with another small, fragile smile. "I defeated Dagur. I don't think he's going to be back any time soon."

Hiccup's eyes widened. "But...but that means...did you...you were…"

"Yeah, Hiccup," Astrid nodded, rubbing her thumb across Hiccup's hairline. "I'm back to the old me."

Hiccup's smile grew. "That's...that's...great, Astrid," he said breathlessly. "I like the...old you...much better, than...the...new...you…" Slowly, his voice began trailing off, until his eyes shut, his breathing evening out.

Astrid smiled. She bent down and kissed his temple. "Yeah," she sai. "Me too."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey hey hey, guys! :D Some of you were wondering if I write all my stories ahead of time, and the answer is:**

 **Well, no. I'm just a crazy author who can write over 4k words a day. And I really don't even have that much free time during the day anymore, what with school and everything. I just get an idea, write it, and then like, ten-twenty minutes later I'm like, "Wait, how is this already 2,000 words!?" Yeah, I am a crazy author, and a pretty fast typer...**

 **Well, yeah. Someone was wondering, so, that's that. :) This is the last chapter to this fanfiction! :D And remember, let me know which one you want to see next: "Of Peace Treaties and Battle Cries" or "Stay With Me." Please help me out, I have no idea which one. :/ XD Enjoy the final chapter! (Or hate it...it's up to you. XD). BYE! :D**

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Dagur rowed as hard as he could, back to his armada. His arms ached. He knew he had bruises around his neck from where that stupid Hofferson girl nearly strangled him to death. He had a good sized slice on his arm and many, many bruises covering his face and ribs.

Rowing caused him pain. Thinking caused him pain. He couldn't do anything without feeling as though he was being strained beyond his limits and hurting in every place possible.

When he finally made it back to his ships, the last thing he wanted to do was yell at them to hoist down the rope ladder, and the very, _very_ last thing he wanted to do was climb it afterwards, but he knew he didn't have a choice.

"YOU IDIOTS!" he shouted. "LOWER THE LADDER! I'M BACK!"

There were shouts from above, and an instant later, the ladder was lowered, and Dagur began climbing up it. His limbs screamed in protest, and he gritted his teeth against the pain that was overwhelming every other feeling he had. When he finally made it to the top, he leapt onto the deck with less grace than a terrified Nightmare.

Savage raced up to him. "Sire!" he said. "What happened? Did you kill him?"

Dagur wanted to throw Savage overboard just for asking something stupid like that. "NO!" he shouted, wiping sweat off his brow. "If I killed him, DO YOU THINK I WOULD LOOK LIKE THIS!?"

Savage yipped and sprang backwards. "I'm...I'm sor-"

"Spare me your apologies, PLEASE!" Dagur yelled angrily. "Set a course back to the islands outside Berk's archipelago! We need to finish building our fleet, and then, and only then, we will attack once more! And...this time...my brother won't be getting out alive."

He smiled darkly, and continued to smile while his men pulled back the anchors, and sailed back towards their new destination.

…

"It's official, lad. You're on the mend."

Astrid wanted to cheer from the rooftops as soon as Gobber translated Gothi's writing. It had been only a few days since Dagur's attack, and Hiccup was recovering steadily and quickly. The first few day hadn't been easy; he'd been too weak to sit up or even stay awake on his own for more than a few minutes, and whenever he moved, he hissed through his teeth or moaned in pain.

The days following the first one grew easier and easier. Hiccup built up more and more strength, and now, it was official. He was no longer in danger of dying from bloodloss. He was no longer in danger of a fever taking his life.

It was just like Gobber said.

He was on the mend.

Right now, Hiccup was sitting up on the edge of his bed with a blanket enveloped around him. Astrid sat beside him, her arm wrapped around his shoulders to help keep him supported. Although he was now officially on the mend, as Gobber put it, the bloodloss he had suffered made him feel colder than usual, and it also drained him of energy. He had more energy than he had had previously, but still, he wasn't fully recovered. He was still only recovering.

Hiccup raised a shaky fist into the air. "Whoo," he said. Although his tone was cheerful, his voice was weak and quiet. "I win."

Astrid shut her eyes and shook her head. Hiccup was such a dork, even when he was wounded. "Yeah," she said. "You win."

"I like it when I do that," Hiccup said.

Astrid smiled. "Yeah," she said. "I like it when you do, too."

Gothi scribbled more runes onto the sand scattered across the floor, and Gobber leaned over them, reading them carefully. "Ah, yes," he said. "She says she just wants ya to keep it queasy - OW!" He stumbled backwards when Gothi whacked Gobber with her staff, quickly double-checking the runes to discover his error. " _Take_ it _easy,_ she says!" Gobber corrected himself. "She just wants you to take it easy for another week or two until we can be sure that wound won't reopen."

"Which means," Astrid said, "no dragon riding, at all, until you've recovered, got it?" She tapped Hiccup's nose, and Hiccup rubbed where she tapped with the back of his hand.

"I don't wanna," Hiccup whined.

"You have to, laddie," Gobber said. "I sure ain't going against the words of a cranky old woman with a staff - Ouch! Again!?"

Astrid laughed. "Honestly though, Hiccup," she said. "As long as you rest, stay hydrated, and don't do anything strenuous, your recovery will be a fast one. You'll be up on Toothless' back kicking Dagur's behind and taking names before you know it."

Hiccup shut his eyes and sighed.

Astrid knew that, no matter how angry she became with Dagur, or how badly she wanted to kill him, Hiccup would never let her kill the deranged maniac. She wanted to kill him, so badly sometimes, but it wasn't the right thing to do, and she knew it. Hiccup didn't want her to kill him, and thereby, she didn't.

Not yet, anyways. He got off lucky when Astrid and he fought. He might not be so lucky the next time he and Astrid crossed weapons.

"So," Gobber said, "that's all, lad." He rested his one good hand heavily on Hiccup's shoulder. "Now go on and get some rest. Gothi wants to check up on you again tomorrow, just to make sure your condition doesn't worsen."

That was one fear that never left Astrid's mind. That was one fear that didn't come from Gothi's hypnosis. The fear of losing Hiccup was genuine, and it scared the living daylights out of Astrid. She didn't know what she would ever do without him.

As soon as Gobber and Gothi left the Haddock residence, Hiccup laid down again, and Astrid pulled another blanket over him. She thought about leaving him to let him rest...but no. She wouldn't leave him. Someone had to look after him, and who if not her?

"Thanks, Astrid, by the way," Hiccup murmured. "For...you know...being here. You don't...have to stay, of course-"

"I know I don't," Astrid rolled her eyes, "but you and I both know that I'm not leaving, so you might as well forget it. You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to."

She knew he didn't want to. She knew he appreciated her being there, or else he never would have thanked her in the first place. She let her remark hang in the air for a few more moments before she said, "You're welcome. And thank you, too."

Hiccup looked up at her, confused. "Why thank me?" he asked.

"Thank you for staying alive," she said. "Thank you for...not leaving me, either. I...I don't know what I'd do without you, Hiccup. You have to be more careful. You were lucky this time. But...who knows. Next time, you might not be-"

"Hey," he cut her off, and she looked back at him. Hiccup smiled fainly. "Don't worry," he said. "Next time, I'll have you."

Astrid smiled faintly yet again. "Yeah," she said, nodding. "You'll have me, and I'll have you."

They settled into a comfortable silence, broken only by Hiccup's raspy breathing and the crackling of the fireplace downstairs.

It wasn't until much later that Hiccup spoke again. "Thank you, milady," he said.

Astrid smiled again; she seemed to do a lot of that when she was around Hiccup. "You're welcome, Dragon Boy," she said back.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **I wasn't really disappointed by any of the Race to the Edge episodes, but in honesty, "Big Man on Berk" was my least favorite out of all of them. One of my favorite parts was when Hiccup grabbed Snotlout's arm, shouting, "Snotlout, you fool!" That was pretty great. :)**

 **And Ruffnut and Tuffnut's "Dr. Nut" scene in the beginning of the episode was pretty great, too. I loved Hiccup's face when Tuffnut said that Fishlegs was "scratching like a honey-covered yak on an anthill." Hiccup's expression was HILARIOUS. :D**

 **And, one last thing: I couldn't help but remember…**

 **HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON:**

 **Stoick: "When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you."**

 **BIG MAN ON BERK:**

 **Stoick: "And my axe?"**

 **Hiccup: "Um...** _ **also**_ **relocated."**

 **Nice, Hiccup. Niiiiiice. XD**

 **Until next story!**

 **-BeyondTheClouds777**


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